#which was based off of therese raquin by zola

[book0ftheday]

The Collected Works of Emile Zola: One Volume Edition, published 1928 by Walter J. Black, previously owned by Ann Hall.

#emile zola #black's books #ann hall thats a great book plate rip #antique books #i bought this because i watched thirst by park chan-wook #which was based off of therese raquin by zola

[viitavirginia]

Any book recommendations?

THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME FROM HISTORY HELL

buckle up kids this is gonna be a long one

NUMERO UNO is the sopranos by alan warner, as of right now my favourite book and also the inspiration behind our ladies of perpetual succour, which floated around the west end for a bit a couple of years ago (and was one of the first shows me and em saw together). it follows six scottish schoolgirls around a choir competition and what they actually get up to, contains ZERO speech marks or indications, is 30% scottish slang without translation then suddenly gets really gay at the end and it is a thing of beauty. it’s both such a feel-good and less mallory towers than this description lets off. PLEASE give it a try if it’s the last thing you ever do.

monsters by emerald fennell is one of the most unsettling things i’ve ever read (and if you have any abuse/trauma history you really wanna be careful, it can get kinda graphic, it took me a while to read the first time around as i kept having to take breaks but it won’t detract from the story if you do) - the whole thing is written from the perspective of an adolescent and for the first couple of chapters i thought it was just juvenile writing, but the further you read the more unnerving it gets and looking back it’s just a fucking brilliant choice. it revolves around murders in a small seaside town - in itself a creepy setting - and two kids who get to know each other as things spiral. don’t let the writing style put you off, it gets increasingly effective and by the end i was full HOLY SHIT THIS IS GENIUS

considering my current url it’d be sacrilege not to throw something by either vita or virginia on there, so adding virginia woolf’s orlando to this list. i really do recommend doing a bit of background research on their relationship before reading as i’m getting SO much more out of it than i would if i didn’t understand all the subtle references. orlando is a wonderful piece of queer reading (and also very, very interesting from a gender/feminist perspective) and woolf’s descriptive writing alone makes it worth the read.

agatha christie’s and then there were none is great if you’re a crime fiction person, all of her books are spectacularly clever but this is probably my favourite. i really like suzanne buffam’s a pillow book, which doesn’t fit in to literally any category of literature (it’s kind of like a series of insomnia lists, but then sometimes it’s prose, sometimes it’s more essay, idk what’s going on), but is a nice gentle read written by an insomniac for insomniacs, and something i think i’m gonna try and emulate at some point.

if queer history is more your thing then i will definitely suggest lillian faderman’s odd girls and twilight lovers, i read it all in one sitting which is unusual for me and non-fiction books, but it’s such a brilliant insight in to early sapphic history. anything by sarah waters is good for sapphic historical fiction; fingersmith and the night watch are probably my favourites. tipping the velvet has really nice imagery but i wasn’t quite as involved with the actual story as the other two.

on the off chance you didn’t come here for a list of gay shit that makes me happy: if you can get past the age gap then bernhard schlink’s the reader is BEAUTIFUL, there’s also a film of it with kate winslet but as always i think you’ll get more out of it by reading it first. i won’t spoil anything but it deals with scarily relevant issues really nicely, and there’s some really gorgeous moments in it. sue monk kidd’s tell it to the bees made me cry REAL TEARS which i don’t usually do with books, it’s harrowing and eloquent and comforting all at the same time. carrie fisher’s mini-autobiographies are great too, wishful drinking is my favourite but honestly anything she’s written is worth a go. neil gaiman’s retellings of norse mythology are a good gateway in and i wouldn’t be a true white girl if i didn’t throw bridget jones’ diary on here (particularly great for long-distance travel where you don’t want anything too heavy). any of emile zola’s les rougon-macquart series (there’s english translations), my favourites are thérèse raquin and nana.

think this covers most bases but if you want any more specific category recommendation let me know!

#ask #long post